Voice verifying system and voice verifying method

ABSTRACT

A voice verifying system, which comprises: a microphone, which is always turned on to output at least one voice signal; a speech determining device, for determining if the voice signal is valid or not according to a reference value, wherein the speech determining device passes the voice signal if the voice signal is valid; and a verifying module, for verifying a speech signal generated from the voice signal and for outputting a device activating signal to activate a target device if the speech signal matches a predetermined rule; and a reference value generating device, for generating the reference value according to speech signal information from the verifying module.

BACKGROUND

A voice verifying system is always applied to a portable electronicapparatus such as a GPS or a mobile phone, such that a user can use avoice command (i.e. a speech signal) to activate the portable electronicdevice or to control the portable electronic device to perform somefunction. However, in order to receive the voice, a microphone of theportable electronic device needs to be always turned on to receive thevoice. Also, a verifying module of the portable electronic device isalways turned on in order to verify the received voice. Therefore, thepower consumption for the voice verifying system of related art is high.

SUMMARY

One objective of the present application is to provide a voice verifyingsystem that can adjust the standard for determining if the voice signalis valid and turns on at least one device according to the voice signal.

Another objective of the present application is to provide a voiceverifying method that can adjust the standard for determining if thevoice signal is valid and turns on at least one device according to thevoice signal.

One embodiment of the present invention discloses a voice verifyingsystem, which comprises: a microphone, which is always turned on tooutput at least one voice signal; a speech determining device, fordetermining if the voice signal is valid or not according to a referencevalue, wherein the speech determining device passes the voice signal ifthe voice signal is valid; and a verifying module, for verifying aspeech signal generated from the voice signal and for outputting adevice activating signal to activate a target device if the speechsignal matches a predetermined rule; and a reference value generatingdevice, for generating the reference value according to speech signalinformation from the verifying module.

Another embodiment of the present invention discloses a voice verifyingmethod, comprising: always turning on a microphone to output at leastone voice signal; determining if the voice signal is valid or notaccording to a reference value, and passing the voice signal to be aspeech signal if the voice signal is valid; and verifying the speechsignal generated from the voice signal by a predetermined rule, andoutputting a device activating signal to activate a target device if thespeech signal matches the predetermined rule; generating the referencevalue according to speech signal information generated from a verifyingresult.

In view of above-mentioned embodiments, the standard for determining ifthe voice signal is valid can be adjusted according to at least onefactor, and at least one device in the system is turned off (or in thesleep mode) until receives the voice signal. By this way, the powerefficiency can be optimized.

These and other objectives of the present invention will no doubt becomeobvious to those of ordinary skill in the art after reading thefollowing detailed description of the preferred embodiment that isillustrated in the various figures and drawings.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a block diagram for a voice verifying system according to anembodiment of the present application.

FIG. 2 is a block diagram for a voice verifying system according toanother embodiment of the present application.

FIG. 3 is a block diagram for a voice verifying system according tostill another embodiment of the present application.

FIG. 4 is a block diagram illustrating an example for detail structuresfor the verifying module illustrated in FIG. 1-FIG. 3.

FIG. 5 is a flow chart illustrating a voice verifying method accordingone embodiment of the present application.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

FIG. 1 is a block diagram for a voice verifying system according to anembodiment of the present application. As shown in FIG. 1, the voiceverifying system 100 comprises a microphone 101, a speech determiningdevice 103, a verifying module 105, a reference value generating device107 and an environment sensor 109. The operations for the devices in thevoice verifying system 100 can be controlled by a control unit 102,which can be excluded from the voice verifying system 102. For example,a processor for a mobile phone that the voice verifying system 100 isprovided in can be utilized to control the voice verifying system 100 aswell.

The microphone 101 is always turned on and transmits a voice signal VSto the speech determining device 103. The speech determining device 103determines if the voice signal VS is valid or not according to areference value RV, and outputs the voice signal VS if the voice signalVS is valid. For more detail, the microphone 101 may transmits undesiredvoice signals besides the speech signal SS to the speech determiningdevice 103, and the speech determining device 103 blocks/filters theundesired voice signals and passes the speech signal SS. In oneembodiment, at least one of the verifying module 105, the referencevalue generating device 107 and the environment sensor 109 is initiallyturned off (or in the sleep mode) and is turned on if the speechdetermining device 103 outputs the speech signal SS to the verifyingmodule 105. The at least one of the verifying module 105, the referencevalue generating device 107 and the environment sensor 109 keepsnon-active if the speech determining device 103 does not output thespeech signal SS to the verifying module 105.

The verifying module 105 receives the speech signal SS and determines ifthe speech signal SS matches a predetermined rule. Also, the verifyingmodule 105 outputs a device activating signal AS if the speech signal SSmatches the predetermined rule and does not output the device activatingsignal AS if the speech signal SS does not match the predetermined rule.In one embodiment, the predetermined rule is: if the speech signal SSmatches a specific command. The specific command can be, for example,“play music”, “play video”, or “call xxx” (xxx can be anyone's name),and the verifying module 105 can be provided in a mobile phone.Alternatively, the predetermined rule can be: if the speech signal SSbelongs to a specific person. The voice data for the specific person canbe pre-recorded in the verifying module 105 such that the verifyingmodule 105 can identify if the speech signal SS belongs to the specificperson. However, please note the predetermined rule is not limited toabove-mentioned examples.

As above-mentioned, the verifying module 105 outputs the deviceactivating signal AS if the speech signal SS matches the predeterminedrule. The device activating signal AS is utilized to activate a targetdevice 111. The target device 111 can be other devices for the apparatusthat the voice verifying system 100 is provided in. For example, thevoice verifying system 100 is provided in a mobile phone and the targetdevice 111 is a display which is in a sleep mode until receives thedevice activating signal AS. Alternatively, in another example the voiceverifying system 100 is provided in a GPS apparatus and the targetdevice 111 is a navigating module which is not turned on and does notperform any navigating function until receives the device activatingsignal AS. Additionally, the target device 111 can be a main processorfor the apparatus that the voice verifying system 100 is provided in.Therefore, if the main CPU is initially turned off (or in the sleepmode) and is only activated by the device activating signal AS, thepower consumption can be greatly reduced.

The environment sensor 109 senses environment surrounding theenvironment sensor 109 to generate at least one environment parameter EIto the reference value generating device 107. The reference valuegenerating device 107 generates the reference value RV according to theenvironment parameter EI. The environment parameter EI comprises atleast one of following parameters: a noise level parameter, a motionparameter, a temperature parameter and a location parameter. The noiselevel parameter indicates the noise situation surrounding the voiceverifying system 100. The motion parameter indicates if the voiceverifying system 100 moves, and how fast does it move. The temperatureparameter indicates the temperature for the environment surrounding thevoice verifying system 100. The location parameter indicates thelocation of the voice verifying system 100.

The noise level may affect the identifying accuracy for the speechsignal. Also, the motion parameter or the location parameter canindicate if the user is in the car or in a meeting room, or the user isrunning, walking, sitting. The temperature may affect the voice signal.Therefore, all these parameters need different standards such that thevoice signal can be accordingly determined to be valid or not, thereforethe reference value RV should be accordingly adjusted. The environmentsensor 109 can be different kinds of sensors to sense theabove-mentioned parameters. For example, the environment sensor 109 cancomprise a noise sensor to sense the noise level. Also, the environmentsensor 109 can comprise a motion sensor such as a G sensor to sense themotion parameter. Alternatively, the environment sensor 109 can comprisean image capture device such as a glass can capture image foridentifying the location, thereby generates the location parameter.Additionally, the environment sensor 109 can comprise a temperaturesensor to sense the temperature. The above-mentioned sensors can beindependent sensors or combined together to form a virtual sensor.

Besides the above mentioned parameters, the reference value generatingdevice 107 may further refer to the microphone sensitivity parameter togenerate the reference value RV. The microphone sensitivity parameterindicates the sensitivity of the microphone 101, which affects the voicesignal VS. For example, if the microphone sensitivity is high, themicrophone outputs a voice signal containing voice for a large region,thus the noise component and the speech component are both high. On thecontrary, if the microphone sensitivity is low, the microphone outputs avoice signal containing voice for a small region, thus the noisecomponent and the speech component are both low. Therefore, differentstandards for determining the voice signals are valid or not are needed.Therefore, the reference value RV should be updated according to themicrophone sensitivity parameter.

In one embodiment, the verifying module 105 computes the speech signalSS to acquire speech signal information SSI of the speech signal SS andtransmits the speech signal information SSI to the reference valuegenerating device 103. The reference value generating device 103generates the reference value RV according to the environment parameterEI and the speech signal information SSI. The information of the speechsignal comprises at least one of following information: a noise type ofthe speech signal, a signal to noise ratio (SNR) of the speech signal, atime duration that the speech determining device does not determine thatthe speech signal exists (i.e. a silent time duration). Either the noisetype or the SNR of the speech signal affects the determining of thespeech signal. Also, the silent time duration indicates the possibilitythat the reference value RV is improper for current situation. Forexample, if the silent time duration is too long, it may indicates thereference value RV is too strict such that the speech signal can not beidentified. On the contrary, if the silent time duration is too short,it may indicates the reference value RV is too loose such that the voicesignal which is not the speech signal is also wrongly determined to bethe speech signal.

In another embodiment, the voice verifying system 100 further comprisesa timer 113 to control the time duration that the reference valuegenerating device 107 generates a new reference value RV.

Briefly speaking, the voice verifying system 100 updates the standard(i.e. the reference value RV) for determining if the voice signal VS isvalid or not (ex. the voice signal VS is the speech signal SS or not)according to at least one of the environment parameter EI, the speechsignal information SSI, and the microphone sensitivity parameter. Afterthat, at least one of the verifying module 105, a reference valuegenerating device 107 and an environment sensor 109 which is initiallyturned off (or in the sleep mode will be turned on if the speechdetermining device 103 determines the voice signal VS is valid andoutputs the speech signal SS to the verifying module 105. Also, thetarget device 111 is not activated until receives the device activatingsignal AS. Therefore, the power consumption for the apparatus utilizingthe voice verifying system according to the present application can bereduced.

Many devices can be applied as the speech determining device 303. In theembodiment of FIG. 2, a comparator 201 can be applied as the speechdetermining device 103 in FIG. 1. The comparator 201 comprises two inputterminals respectively receiving the voice signal VS and the referencevalue RV. The comparator 201 compares energy level or energy differenceof the voice signal VS with the reference value RV. The speechdetermining device 103 determines the voice signal VS is valid (ex. thevoice signal VS is the speech signal SS) if the energy level or energydifference of the voice signal VS exceeds the reference value RV. On thecontrary, the speech determining device 103 determines the voice signalVS is invalid (ex. the voice signal VS is not a speech signal SS) if theenergy level or energy difference of the voice signal VS is less thanthe reference value RV.

As above-mentioned description, the reference value RV can be generatedaccording to various kinds of parameters, thus the reference value RVcan be adjusted corresponding to various situations such that thestandard for determining the speech signal can be adjusted to be looseor strict. For example, if the environment parameter EI indicates atleast one of following situation the voice verifying system does notmove, the voice verifying system is hold in a hand of an user (ex. amobile phone comprising the voice verifying system is hold in a hand ofan user) , and the voice verifying system is in a moving car, then thereference value generating device 107 decreases the reference value RV.If the voice verifying system is in any one of the above-mentionedsituations, the user may want to use the voice control function, thusthe reference value RV is decreased such that the comparator can easilypass the speech signal to activate other devices. On the contrary, inother situations the user rarely uses the voice control function suchthat the reference value RV is adjusted to be high thereby thecomparator can block most voice signal. By this way other devices cankeep non-activated to save power. In another example, the referencevalue RV is increased if the voice verifying system is put in a pack.The user rarely utilizes the voice control function if the voiceverifying system is put in a pack (ex. a mobile phone comprising thevoice verifying system is put in a pack) , thus the reference value RVis increased such that other devices can keep non-activated to savepower. Please note the above-mentioned situations are only for exampleand do not mean to limit the scope of the present invention.

In one embodiment, the microphone is a digital microphone, thus thevoice signal VS output from the microphone 101 and the speech signal SSare all digital. However, the voice signal VS outputted from themicrophone 101 and the speech signal SS can also be an analog signal. Inanother embodiment, the micro phone is an analog microphone and ananalog to digital converter can be further comprised in the voiceverifying system

FIG. 3 is a block diagram for a voice verifying system 300 according toanother embodiment of the present application. The same as theembodiment in FIG. 1, the voice verifying system 300 also comprises thespeech determining device 303, a verifying module 305, a reference valuegenerating device 307, and an environment sensor 309. However, the voiceverifying system 300 comprises an analog microphone 301 rather than themicrophone 101 in the embodiment of FIG. 1. Therefore, the voiceverifying system 300 further comprises an ADC 313 provided between theanalog microphone 301 and the verifying module 305. Please note in FIG.3 the ADC 313 is located behind the speech determining device 303.However, in another embodiment the ADC can be located in front of thespeech determining device.

Therefore, the operation for the voice verifying system 300 has somedifference from which of the voice verifying system 100 when themicrophone 101 is a digital microphone. For the voice verifying system100, the microphone 101 outputs a digital voice signal VS to the speechdetermining device 103. The speech determining device 103 determines ifthe digital voice signal VS is a digital speech signal SS and passes thedigital speech signal SS to the verifying module 105 according to thereference value RV.

For the voice verifying system 300, the analog microphone 301 outputs ananalog voice signal AVS to the speech determining device 303. The speechdetermining device 303 determines if the analog voice signal AVS isvalid or not according to the reference value RV (ex. if the analogvoice signal AVS is an analog speech signal ASS) and passes the analogspeech signal ASS to the ADC 313 if the analog voice signal AVS isvalid. The ADC 313 converts the analog speech signal ASS to a speechsignal SS and transmits the speech signal SS to the verifying module305.

Additionally, for the voice verifying system 100, at least one of theverifying module 105, a reference value generating device 107 and anenvironment sensor 109 is initially turned off (or in the sleep mode)and is turned on if the speech determining device 103 outputs thedigital speech signal SS to the verifying module 105. For the voiceverifying system 300, at least one of the verifying module 305, thereference value generating device 307 and the environment sensor 309 andthe ADC 313 is initially turned off (or in the sleep mode) and is turnedon if the speech determining device 303 outputs the analog speech signalASS. By this way, the power consumption can be further reduced since theADC can be initially turned off or in the sleep mode.

The operations for the verifying module 305, the reference valuegenerating device 307, and the environment sensor 309 in FIG. 3 aresimilar with which of the verifying module 105, the reference valuegenerating device 107, and the environment sensor 109 in FIG. 1, thusare omitted for brevity here. Also, the voice verifying system 300 canalso comprise the control unit 102 and the timer 113 in FIG. 2.Furthermore, the comparator in FIG. 2 can also be applied as the speechdetermining device 303 in FIG. 3.

As above-mentioned, in another embodiment that the ADC 313 can belocated in front of the speech determining device 303. In suchembodiment, the analog voice signal received by the analog microphone istransferred to a digital voice signal first via the ADC, thus the speechdetermining device 303 receives the digital voice signal rather then theanalog voice signal AVS described above. Additionally, in suchembodiment the ADC can be a low power ADC to save power consumption. Insuch embodiment, operations of the speech determining device, theverifying module , the reference value generating device and theenvironment sensor are the same as which of FIG. 1 with a digital voicesignal VS, thus are omitted for brevity here.

FIG. 4 is a block diagram illustrating an example for detail structuresfor the verifying module illustrated in FIG. 1-FIG. 3. As shown in FIG.4, the verifying module 400 (i.e. the verifying module 105, 305 in FIG.1 and FIG. 3) comprises a voice detecting device 401, a command/speakerverifying device 403, and an information generator 405. The voicedetecting device 401 detects voice signal (i.e. the above mentionedanalog speech signal or digital speech signal). The command/speakerverifying device 403 verifies if the command or the person generates thespeech signal is valid or not (i.e. determines if the speech signalmatches a predetermined rule or not) and the verifying module 400outputs the above-mentioned device activating signal AS if the speechsignal is valid. The information generator generates the information forthe speech signal EI. However, please note the structure for theverifying module is not limited to the example in FIG. 4.

In view of above-mentioned embodiments, a voice verifying method appliedto a voice verifying system as shown in FIG. 5 can be acquired, whichcomprises the following steps:

Step 501

Always turn on a microphone to output at least one voice signal .

Step 503

Determine if the voice signal is valid or not according to a referencevalue. If yes, go to step 505. If not, go to step 515 to block the voicesignal.

Step 505

Pass the voice signal to a verifying module.

Step 507

Utilize the verifying module to determine if the speech signal matches apredetermined rule, and utilizing the verifying module to output adevice activating signal for activating a target device if the speechsignal matches the predetermined rule.

Step 509

Utilize an environment sensor to sense environment surrounding theenvironment sensor to generate at least one environment parameter.

Step 511

Utilize a reference value generating device to generate the referencevalue according to the environment parameter.

Step 513

Initially turn off at least one of the verifying module, the environmentsensor and the reference value generating device and turn on at leastone of the verifying module, the environment sensor and the referencevalue generating device if the voice signal is determined to be validand is passed in the previous steps. (or control them to be in the sleepmode) . The at least one of the verifying module, the environment sensorand the reference value generating device keeps non active if theverifying module does not receive the speech signal .

Step 515

Block/filter the voice signal.

In view of above-mentioned embodiments, the standard for determining ifthe speech signal exists can be adjusted according to at least onefactor, and at least one device in the system is turned off untilreceives the speech signal . By this way, the power efficiency can beoptimized.

Those skilled in the art will readily observe that numerousmodifications and alterations of the device and method may be made whileretaining the teachings of the invention. Accordingly, the abovedisclosure should be construed as limited only by the metes and boundsof the appended claims.

What is claimed is:
 1. A voice verifying system, comprising: a microphone, which is always turned on to output at least one voice signal; a speech determining device, for determining if the voice signal is valid or not according to a reference value, wherein the speech determining device passes the voice signal if the voice signal is valid; and a verifying module, for verifying a speech signal generated from the voice signal and for outputting a device activating signal to activate a target device if the speech signal matches a predetermined rule; and a reference value generating device, for generating the reference value according to speech signal information from the verifying module.
 2. The voice verifying system of claim 1, wherein the verifying module computes the speech signal and generates the speech signal information to the reference value generating device, wherein the reference value generating device generates the reference value according to the speech signal information.
 3. The voice verifying system of claim 1, further comprising: an environment sensor, for sensing environment surrounding the environment sensor to generate at least one environment parameter.
 4. The voice verifying system of claim 1, wherein the verifying module generates the reference value according to a microphone sensitivity parameter and the speech signal.
 5. The voice verifying system of claim 1, wherein the speech determining device is a comparator for comparing energy level or energy difference of the speech signal with the reference value; wherein the speech determining device determines the voice signal is valid if the energy level or energy difference of the voice signal exceeds the reference value.
 6. The voice verifying system of claim 5, if the environment parameter indicates the voice verifying system is put in a pack, the reference value generating device increases the reference value.
 7. The voice verifying system of claim 1, wherein the microphone is a digital microphone, the voice signal output from the microphone and the speech signal are digital signals.
 8. The voice verifying system of claim 1, wherein the microphone is an analog microphone, the voice signal output from the microphone is an analog signal and the speech signal is a digital signal, wherein the voice verifying system comprises: an analog to digital converter, located behind the speech determining device, for converting the voice signal passing the speech determining device to the speech signal; wherein at least one of the verifying module, the reference value generating device and the analog to digital converter is initially turned off and is turned on if the speech determining device passes the voice signal.
 9. The voice verifying system of claim 1, wherein the microphone is an analog microphone for outputting an analog voice signal, where the voice signal and the speech signal are digital signals, wherein the voice verifying system comprises: an analog to digital converter, located in front of the speech determining device, for converting the analog voice signal to the voice signal.
 10. The voice verifying system of claim 9, wherein the analog to digital converter is a low power analog to digital converter.
 11. A voice verifying method, comprising: always turning on a microphone to output at least one voice signal; determining if the voice signal is valid or not according to a reference value, and passing the voice signal to be a speech signal if the voice signal is valid; and verifying the speech signal generated from the voice signal by a predetermined rule, and outputting a device activating signal to activate a target device if the speech signal matches the predetermined rule; generating the reference value according to speech signal information generated from a verifying result.
 12. The voice verifying method of claim 11, further comprising: computing the speech signal to generate the speech signal information to the reference value generating device; and generating the reference value according to the speech signal information.
 13. The voice verifying method of claim 11, further comprising: sensing environment to generate at least one environment parameter.
 14. The voice verifying method of claim 11, further comprising: generating the reference value according to a microphone sensitivity parameter and the speech signal.
 15. The voice verifying method of claim 11, further comprising: comparing energy level or energy difference of the speech signal with the reference value; and determining the voice signal is valid if the energy level or energy difference of the voice signal exceeds the reference value.
 16. The voice verifying method of claim 15, if the environment parameter indicates the environment is in a pack, increasing the reference value.
 17. The voice verifying method of claim 11, wherein the microphone is a digital microphone, the voice signal output from the microphone and the speech signal are digital signals.
 18. The voice verifying method of claim 11, wherein the microphone is an analog microphone, the voice signal output from the microphone is an analog signal and the speech signal is a digital signal, wherein the voice verifying method further comprises: performing an analog to digital converting operation to convert the voice signal to the speech signal; and initially turning off at least one of a verifying module for outputting the device activating signal, a reference value generating device for generating the reference value and an analog to digital converter for performing the analog to digital converting operation, and turning on at least one of the verifying module, the reference value generating device and the analog to digital converter if the voice signal is passed to be the speech signal.
 19. The voice verifying method of claim 11, wherein the microphone is an analog microphone for outputting an analog voice signal, where the voice signal and the speech signal are digital signals, wherein voice verifying method further comprises: performing an analog to digital converting operation to convert the analog voice signal to the voice signal.
 20. The voice verifying method of claim 19, further comprising utilizing a low power analog to digital converter to perform the analog to digital converting operation. 